Keep Wales Tidy
Keep Wales Tidy is a Welsh national voluntary environmental charity which works towards achieving "a clean, safe and tidy Wales". It works in partnership with Local Authorities, schools and community groups, and organisations such as Waste Awareness Wales and Environment Wales in order to achieve these goals.
History
Keep Wales Tidy started as a campaign in 1972, funded by the Welsh Office. At this time it was an offshoot of the charity Keep Britain Tidy.
In 2000 Keep Wales Tidy established itself as a separate company, beginning the process of separation from the parent group, and this was completed in 2005. Today there are no formal ties between the two groups, although they often collaborate on common issues.
In 2008 the organisation adopted a Fair Trade policy, sourcing items like coffee, tea and biscuits from Fair Trade outlets. Larger items such as staff T-shirts are also Fair Trade sourced.
Projects
Keep Wales Tidy runs a number of projects, including :
Tidy Towns
This project works to improve the environment in Wales. The Welsh Assembly Government has given all Welsh local authorities a Tidy Towns grant, and each one now has a Tidy Towns Officer. Much of their work in this area is on general litter issues. Through this initiative, Keep Wales Tidy is also able to offer financial assistance to groups who wish to improve their home areas, with grants awarded to cover the cost of tools, equipment, publicity and training.
